Kenya has begun the search for a Chief Executive Officer to head its freshly minted National Infrastructure Fund. This is Kenya’s flagship infrastructure investment institution established to mobile long term domestic and international capital into commercially viable and strategic projects.
Applications for Kenya Fund’s inaugural CEO close on 31st July 2026. This moves comes barely less than a week after Kenya completed constituting the Fund’s board.
The CEO will be tasked with establishing the institution, mobilising domestic and international capital, and developing commercially viable infrastructure investments in Kenya.
The occupant must have a Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Business Administration, Engineering, Law or any other degree from a recognised university, a relevant Masters degree and or a professional qualification such as CPA, CFA, CA an equivalent as an added advantage.
Conditions for recruitment of the Fund’s CEO
The suitable candidate must have at least 10 years’ relevant experience in investment management, private equity, infrastructure, project finance, investment banking, development finance or any other relevant investment discipline.
According to a notice by the National Infrastructure Fund Secretariat, at the Kenya National Treasury, the Fund’s CEO will be appointed by the Board in accordance with provisions of the National Infrastructure Fund Act and shall serve on a fixed-term renewable contract, subject to satisfactory performance.
In a Gazette Notice published less than a week ago, Kenya Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi appointed six members to the board of the National Infrastructure Fund, paving the way for the operationalisation of the KSh 5 trillion financing vehicle established to support large-scale infrastructure projects across Kenya.
Kenya has already appointed the Fund’s Board of Directors
The appointed board members, James Mworia Mwirigi, Fahima Ali Ahmed Zein, Christopher Kibui Maranga, Latoya Ouna, Lawrence Kibet and Mohammed Abdirahman Hassan, will serve three-year terms as the fund moves towards financing commercially viable projects in transport, energy, water and irrigation while reducing reliance on traditional public borrowing.
The National Infrastructure Investment Fund Act of 2026 in Section 4, states the functions of the Fund. These include scaling up and accelerating the development of national infrastructure. Others are mobilizing private capital and non-traditional sources of infrastructure finance. The Fund also aims to reduce reliance on public debt for financing commercially viable infrastructure investments and strengthen the national capacity for origination. Kenya will also use the Fund to structure and execute large and complex infrastructure projects.
The Fund plans to ease the pressure of infrastructure investment on public budgets, as such investment has historically been a major driver of debt escalation in Kenya.
“While core public goods may be included, the fund’s focus on commercially viable, large‑scale projects lead to a question on whether these purposes could only be achieved through this fund and not through private finance or standard public procurement. Moreover, for a government with sovereign debt approaching 70% of GDP, these objectives should be keenly assessed for fitness,” said Kwame Owino, Institute of Economic Affairs(IEA).
Although reducing debt reliance is prudent, a fund that seeks to “scale up” infrastructure via blended finance may still expose the Kenya government to contingent liabilities and crowd out private lending. The National Infrastructure Fund will receive public seed capital estimated at KSh 340 billion (US$ 2.6 billion) gained from the proceeds of divestiture from the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) and dilution of Government holdings in Safaricom Kenya Limited.
National Infrastructure Fund Act
According to the National Infrastructure Fund Act, the purpose of this Fund is to scale up and accelerate development of catalytic national infrastructure including, national highway and railway networks, air and sea ports, electricity generation, transmission and distribution, water reservoirs, irrigation and agribusiness infrastructure.
It will mobilize private capital and non-traditional sources of infrastructure finance. These include domestic pension funds and collective investment schemes, sovereign wealth funds, and climate finance.
The Fund shall be managed by a Board of Directors which shall consist of a chairperson, who is an independent director. The Cabinet Secretary to the National Treasury or a representative designated in writing will also sit on the board; four persons, who are independent directors; two persons who have proven experience in senior leadership roles in development banking; and the chief executive office who shall be an exofficio member of the Board.
The Independent Directors shall be recruited competitively in accordance with section 13 of the Government Owned Enterprises Act. (3) The directors shall be appointed by Cabinet Secretary by notice in the Gazette.
